In my amateur opinion, these are some of Lauren Oliver's writing strengths: dramatic character arcs, beautiful description, language, and romance, and satisfying endings that just want to make you sigh. But... but? There's so much more to say.
I hated the beginning and... I hate that I hated the beginning. It had SO MUCH drinking, and references to teen sex, and smoking, and cutting class, and unbelievable cruelty, yet I understood Oliver wrote it that way to show her protagonist's arc--from a mean girl to a kind one--but had I not expected this, and also loved DELIRIUM, I may very well have put down this book. I hated the first two-thirds. I felt like I was pushing a boulder uphill. In 110 degree weather. With thorns biting, stabbing, poisoning my tender feet. And rock-throwing banshees pounding my skull with said rocks. And wailing. Lots and lots of screaming and wailing.
But then the main character decides to be nice, and it was like she became the protagonist in DELIRIUM when she decided to become proactive, too, and the book became compelling, and addictive, and I couldn't wait to read what would happen next. So I'm stuck. I understand why she wrote the beginning the way she did. (I'm not sure the ending would have been nearly as satisfying had she written it any differently.) But it was definitely tough for me to get through that first two-thirds. I kept gritting my teeth and forcing myself to turn the page. (Remember those ill-mannered banshees.)
Even so, I still feel like I learn a lot from this author. She writes SO BEAUTIFULLY, and her central character arc makes a first person point of view all the more rewarding. So I sit here, smile to myself, "Ahh, that was a good book," simultaneously remembering how much I despised the beginning.
How about you? Anyone else currently wading through mixed emotions regarding an excellent book?
*For a fine specimen of hypocrisy, please compare and contrast the above review with previous post
Oh, I loved this book and I also really enjoyed Delirium! Oliver's writing is gorgeous. I totally understand what you mean about the beginning. I had a friend who had the same reaction. I guess it didn't bother me as much because I have the philosophy that as long as I'm feeling something, even if it's pure disgust and hatred, then the author is doing something right. The only real literary sin is to be boring and therefore forgettable.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, you won THE BOOK THIEF from my blog! So email me your address at sendliesl(at)gmail(dot)com. Congrats!
Yay! I can't wait to get THE BOOK THIEF! Thank you, Liesl.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right. She did get me to feel.
I LOVED The Book Thief. I think you'll love it too, Mary. Your book club could do amazing things with it, I suspect--acting it out. It is SO incredibly imaginative, the writing wonderfully poetic. And Death as the narrator. Wow. The kind of book any writer would love to write, IMO.
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